Basketball Insider: What to make of the Yohan Traore, Chance Westry decisions to transfer from Auburn

AUBURN — News broke on Tuesday that Auburn freshmen Yohan Traore and Chance Westry were planning to enter their names into the transfer portal and move on from the Tigers’ program.

The news has been confirmed with sources within the Auburn program, as both are planning to enter their names into the portal, but haven’t officially entered their names into the portal as of Tuesday afternoon. The expectation is that will happen soon.

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Traore and Westry played sparingly during their true freshmen seasons, but for different reasons. Westry was injured and never fully recovered. Bruce Pearl and staff decided to redshirt Westry, as the talented guard played scout team as the season unfolded. Traore was available all season, but was stuck behind Johni Broome, Jaylin Williams, Dylan Cardwell and others for playing time. When Traore did play, he didn’t produce anything of significance.

The Traore news wasn’t that surprising to anyone involved. Traore is a talented player who was likely going to be stuck behind Broome and Williams again next season. The expectation is that Broome and Williams will return in 2023-24. Cardwell, too. Traore was a late addition to Auburn’s class after LSU fired Will Wade and found themselves in NCAA trouble, so it’s not all that surprising that Traore is now moving on.

As for Westry, it’s a little different. There was an expectation recently that Westry would return. His decision to announce his name into the portal on Tuesday was surprising to the Auburn staff, sources have told Auburn Live. Discussions were ongoing, as they are with most players and their families this time of year, but the timing of Westry’s decision certainly seem to be unexpected. After bouncing around between three different high schools, Westry will now be moving on to his second college destination.

Bottom line: In today’s age of college basketball, this will only become more common. Players want minutes, and they have more people around them than ever before helping influence their decisions. Traore and Westry didn’t have the type of first years they wanted, so they’re going to look for answers elsewhere.

Players to continue to keep an eye on that are seriously considering transferring are K.D. Johnson, Allen Flanigan and Wendell Green Jr. Again, like we talked about before, there’s a lot of moving parts.

Auburn is actively recruiting in both the high school ranks and the transfer portal. The Tigers’ staff is on the road recruiting as we speak, including the head coach. One transfer portal target to continue to keep an eye on is Florida International shooting guard Denver Jones.

What does it all mean? More scholarships, that’s what. The news of Traore and Westry coupled with the departure of Zep Jasper, plus the scholarship Auburn gets back from self-imposed sanctions the last two years, gives the Tigers four open scholarships as of right now. Signee Aden Holloway will take up one of those spots. That now provides three open scholarships, and there could be more.

One source told Auburn Live on Tuesday, “it’s going to look a lot different,” when talking about the future roster. It certainly seems like that will be the case.

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